CaliforniaAttain! 2025 Retreat

When we interviewed comebacker students last year, we heard their issues loud and clear: current academic probation policies and practices pose significant obstacles to student success and completion. To address their concerns, we highlight how institutions can reform academic probation, ensuring students receive the support to return to (or maintain) good academic standing and achieve their full potential in college and beyond.

This report, which draws on over 50 interviews with comebacker students (those who exited college and reenrolled) and a community of practice through CaliforaniaAttain!, identifies four key areas, each with its own set of recommendations for promoting reenrollment and degree attainment while also shifting higher education structures to address the needs of today's diverse college-going population.

Four organizations join efforts through the CaliforniaAttain! collaborative to conduct research, identify evidence-based practices, and advance reforms that re-engage adult learners back into college and onto completion.